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09 December 2011

Cape Town to get first climate change observatory

Cape Town is to get the first climate change observatory in the world by 2014, according to a report on Friday.

The observatory would present complex information about global climate change in an relevant, accessible and understandable manner, the SABC reported.

It would be built on a jetty at the V&A Waterfront by the International Polar Foundation. The foundation educates citizens about polar science and research. Cape Town was chosen for its proximity to the South Pole.

The foundation's vice-president Nighat Amin told the broadcaster that Capetonians had offered their support for the project.

"There is a willingness here to actually do something about it [climate change]," she said.

"In other parts of the world there were vested interests, but in South Africa we found that people want to get involved."

Prince Albert II of Monaco is the patron of the project. He and his South African wife, Princess Charlene, were in the country for the COP17 climate change conference.